The Elder Scrolls Online NDA has lifted today and we're pleased to announce the launch of Esohead! With Esohead, you can navigate your way around Tamriel and really delve into the sprawling depths the game delivers--and don't forget to check out ESOUI and their forums as well.

Skill Calculator

Crafting Simulator

The Crafting Simulator is an interactive road-map to Blacksmithing, Clothing and Woodworking. Start with a base item and, from there, customize it with materials, quality, styles and traits. This tool also dynamically updates the selected base item based on materials and styles selected. There's also a database of Enchantments you can search to assist you in your leveling experience.

Exploration

Exploration is where you will find subcategories regarding books, quests and maps. On the Map page, you can filter out certain maps for each zone, as well as items of interest like faction keeps, cities and portals.

Quests, Items, NPCs & Achievements

Search for Quests in our database for more information, including Quest text and hints, NPC locations and Zones. Items can be searched for based on item type and level, and we’re constantly adding in new items as we go. Search for Achievements under every possible category; you can even filter them based on which Achievement awards a title.

One Network, One Log-in

The majority of our sites offer single sign on; once you log on, you can stay logged on as you navigate the ZAM network.

Yesterday afternoon we learned that ZAM’s longtime copy editor, Judy Freeman, passed away from lung cancer. Judy had been with ZAM since October 16, 2007.

From the start, Judy worked to clean up the scribbling of our various writers, journalists, and editors. Many of us across the network were fortunate to work with Judy, relying on her expertise to hold us up and shine the brightest light on our creative work. She never wanted to be in the spotlight, but quietly mentored a surprising number of people on the front lines of ZAM News. Chances are if you ever read ZAM news you've read something she touched.

Thank you, Judy, for the time that you spent with us at ZAM. It ended far sooner than we all ever expected.

Want to work with world-class web applications at a company built for gamers by gamers? Are you extremely detail oriented? Do you know how to avoid standing in fire?

If so, we have some good news: we're hiring again at Wowhead!

This time we're looking for a Senior PHP and Front End Developer with experience in developing in a high traffic, high availability environment. This developer will work with our team to help make awesome new features for LolKing, Wowhead, and other ZAM properties. This is a full-time position with benefits. This role has the option of working remotely or working from the ZAM offices in Northern California depending on the candidate's location.

To apply, send your cover letter, resume, salary history, and any other relevant information to jobs@zam.com.

Today we here at Wowhead are pleased to announce that we've added XIVDB to our growing network of websites!

From a comprehensive list of in-game items to a quick reference guide to all the skills available for each primary and secondary class, Final Fantasy fans will have all the tools, stats and resources they need at their fingertips ready for launch.

In addition to XIVDB, you can also use the incredible combat log parser via FFXIV-APP. With the app you will have all the hidden stats in the game unveiled through your chatlog. You can also use Google translate through the app to make sure there are no language boundaries between you and your party. There is even a custom PluginSDK to allow you to create and distribute your own add-ons!

ZAM has always been dedicated to providing the best experience for gamers and we are very pleased to continue that service with XIVDB. Make sure to head over to the site and see for yourself.

We're hiring again at Wowhead. This time we're looking for a system administrator with experience in maintaining websites in a high-traffic high-availability environment. This system administrator will work with our technical team to help make awesome new features for LolKing, Wowhead, and other ZAM properties. This is a 3 month contract position with a possibility of extending to full time. This role has the possibility of working remotely or working from the ZAM offices in Northern California depending on the candidate's location.

Want to work with world-class web applications at a company built by gamers for gamers?

Are you extremely detail oriented?

Do you know to not stand in fire?

Come and work in an environment where you can go as far as your skills and drive can take you.

As you guys probably know, Wowhead exists as a free resource thanks to the ads on our website. Every few months we run surveys regarding advertising here and it's that time again! Remember that you are under no obligation to participate, so if giving out information is not your cup of tea, we totally understand.

To sweeten the deal, we'll be picking six people who reply to our survey to win Amazon gift cards:

This week's episode of Talk Azeroth with Olivia Grace is now live! She tackles two popular PTR topics--Virtual Realms and Flex Raiding.

She starts with a discussion of what we know so far about the new Virtual Realm feature coming in patch 5.4, discussing how it will affect and be affected by CRZ, along with its implications for PvP and PvE realms, smaller and larger realms, and the rest! There will undoubtedly, as she mentions, be an effect on auction houses, and chat channels, but Olivia suspects that it will all turn out rosy in the end.

Moving on to the next item on her agenda, Olivia talks about the recent additions to what we know about Talk Azeroth Episode 2's topic: Flex Raiding. Some Community Manager called Lore or something dropped the new earlier this week that there would be additional rewards available only to those who participated in raiding levels above LFR, and we wonder just exactly what that could be. Last up, it's lockouts. They're a bit crazy for flex raiding, and maybe make the new system a bit less flexible, Olivia runs down the reasons why.

And we also have a video question! If you want to submit viewer or video questions, drop them in the comments, or tweet to @oliviadgrace.

We had some site downtime today and we wanted to share with everyone why that was--and don't worry, it's good news!

In short, we have just completed migrating servers and getting Wowhead stabilized on its new home. This change will allow us to have better uptime, faster load times, and allow us to create more awesome features in the future.

It will also fix a couple of notorious issues people have been having with our site. Many of you probably remember an issue where pages were not loading correctly. While we fixed it for many people, it was a reoccurring problem for a few regions despite our best efforts. You'll be relieved to hear that this should be fixed by our server migration.

The next few hours are crucial for us so be sure to report any issues you find in the comments here so we can investigate them thoroughly. Moving a site as huge as Wowhead is not without its difficulties, but this will alleviate the server issues we've been having over the past month and bring greater stability to our users in the future. Thanks for your patience, you guys!

Edit: If you are still experiencing issues, please check out this thread. We've fixed some critical bugs like Russian Wowhead and uploading images not working properly, and have a known list of issues we're still addressing.

We're proud to announce that Olivia Grace will be joining our ZAMOfficial YouTube channel with a new weekly show, Talk Azeroth! You may recognize Olivia from her prolific articles on WoW Insider covering everything from PvP news to breaking news to UI advice. She's also one of the Legendary hosts over at Gamebreaker.tv, which Lore from TankSpot hosted before starting his new job at Blizzard!

Episode Summary:

This week on the very first episode of Talk Azeroth, Olivia Grace waxes lyrical on the departure of her predecessor to the sunny shores of Blizzard Entertainment, and recounts her own tale of her recent visit to Blizzard EU in Paris, where she got to play Hearthstone, as well as grilling Blizzard developers Ben Brode and Eric Dodds on the upcoming CCG.

Moving in to the more Warcraft-focused news, Olivia brings us up to date on the WoW movie, with a short potted history, before wondering whether it will be a success, theorizing what route might work best for Blizzard's box office, and asking whether it is a good idea at all.

Last up, we take a look at a recently datamined desktop client. It looks like a complete replacement for the existing launchers, and Olivia takes a look at what we can glean from the pictures before discussing some hopes and fears for the new system.

If you have questions you'd like answered on this week's topics, or in general, leave a comment or video response, or tweet Olivia on @oliviadgrace.

ZAM is teaming up with Cryptozoic to prepare you for the first ever MMO TCG! From the creators of the World of Warcraft TCG, HEX: Shards of Fate will bring trading card games to the next digital level. So far the HEX Kickstarter has been a smashing success, easily surpassing all of its stretch goals, including its final $1.16 million goal.

To get you started in this exciting new game, ZAM is giving away access to Kickstarter tiers--10 Warrior, 5 Knight, and one King are up for grabs! These Kickstarter tiers include starter decks, booster packs, exclusive cards and more! Check out the HEX Kickstarter page for more details on the prizes.

Getting your hands on HEX cards is as simple as becoming a free member of ZAM.com and clicking on the HEX giveaway link to enter!